Why Does Gender Matter? - Southern Early Childhood Association

Why Does Gender Matter? Counteracting Stereotypes With Young Children
domains, but also in creating a moral
context for what they learn, as well
as to help shape a global, multicultural,
anti-bias world view.
Young children create and internalize
their own meanings of gender,
based on the social cues of the
adults, environments, and media
around them. Adults in turn have a
responsibility to ensure that those
cues and messages create a healthy
understanding of what it means
to be male and female (Derman-
Sparks, 2001).
By equipping young children with
positive messages of empowerment
regardless of gender, in addition to
the critical thinking skills to identify
stereotypes, teachers and families
can impart in children self-concept
resiliency, even when faced with
negative stereotypes (Small, 2003).
Those children will then be less likely
to perpetuate the stereotypes and can
help end the cycle of prejudice.
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